pere-lachaise cemetery in paris, not far from henri de belzak marcelle proulx and oscar wilde. every year, thousands of fans continue to visit his gravesite. >> jennifer: i'm jennifer granholm three things have been on my mind since friday's unspeakable horror in newtown. guns in this country is a tragedy. mental health in this country is

approached as an afterthought and three, far too young men in this country are in a state of crisis. tonight in "the war room" we're going to show you how we all can take action in all of these areas because in the words of the president, surely we can do better than this. ♪ >> jennifer: last friday at 4:30 in the morning under the cover of darkness the michigan legislature passed a bill that would allow gun owners to carry concealed weapons into hospitals, churches bars stadiums day care centers and schools. and just a few hours after the

legislature passed that bill 26 people including 20 children were killed. gunned down at the elementary school in sandy hook elementary. the governor said that has given him clear pause. i beg your rick snyder please veto those bills and stop the madness, but here is what he is up against. 24 michigan lawmakers are acting on behalf of alec that conservative group that drafts gun legislation for lawmakers, and alec has been bank rolled by the nra. michigan's alec chair cosponsored the extreme gun legislation that rammed through

the house and senate last week. but this is not just about michigan. michigan has been passing some crazy bills these last few weeks, but this is much broader. alec's legislation has been used across the country to weaken gun laws. since 2009, 99-nra-backed alec laws have passed in 36 states. all of those states are states where alec-backed gun legislation has passed. and as a result gun safety laws across the country have gotten incredibly watered down. in arizona you need a permit to cut hair but not to carry a concealed. in mississippi concealed weapons

permits last longer than driver's licenses. iowa it's easier to sell a gun than lemonade. in arkansas it takes less time to buy a gun than to qualify for food stamps. not only do we have weaker gun laws than other countries, we have significantly more guns than any other place on the planet. look at this chart. those little yellow dots are the number of runs that are in all of those countries, all of those advanced industrialized nations, and there are 270 million privately owned firearms in the united states, far more than any other country the world.

that's an average of roughly nine guns for every 10 americans. almost as many guns as there are people. and sadly the sandy hook venn has only aggravated this trend. the largest online gun sales groups saw record sales. one of the administrator's said this . . . blow it away! this is after sandy hook. and with an increase in gun ownership in this country, the number of mass killings has increased also. they have speaked in the last 20 years. this has got to stop. and the majority of americans

agree. in fact a "washington post" abc news poll out today found that just over half of americans saw the -- the shooting at sandy hook elementary as a sign of broader problems rather than an isolated incident. and this cuts across party lines with most democrats, republicans, and independents all viewing the newtown shooting as part of a wider issue, and that reverses a trend we have seen in past mass shootings, because polls did show the majority of americans viewed those previous incidents as isolated incidents. a petition on the white house website that demands that the president and congress take action now has more than 150,000

signatures making it one of the most popular petitions ever. last night the president indicated that he was prepared to take action. >> we're not doing enough. and we will have to change. these tragedies must end. and to end them we must change. we will be told that the causes of such violence are complex, and that is true but they can't be excuse or inaction. surely we can do better than this. >> jennifer: surely we can do better than that. the president nor spokesman jay carney provided specifics today, but congressional leaders are moving ahead. four democratic senator called for increased gun control laws.

reinstituted the ban of weapons guns, mark warner who actually got an a-rating from the nra he today called for the introduction of rational gun-control measures. on the republican side though? crickets. it's not as if they didn't have the opportunity. meet the press reached out to 31 pro-gun-right senators to appear on the show this weekend, but all 31 declined the invitation. we cannot stand by any longer and watch this go on. tonight we're going to tell you how you can get involved as parents o children as voters as proud americans.

we're going to talk about how we can reach the young men and boys who unfortunately are overwhelmingly likely to commit such crimes. 61 of the last 62 mass murders in this country were committed by young men. so stay there. you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. as your senator i'll protect your second amendment rights that's why the nra endorsed me. >> jennifer: that was san francisco political reporter joe garofoli -- joe manchin in a campaign ad. and this was him today.

>> we need action. i think seeing the massacre of so many innocent children has changed america >> jennifer: after friday's massacre, the issue of gun safety is dominating the conversation. diane feinstein as i mentioned earlier vows to interview a bill that would ban any new sales, transfers importation and possession of assault weapons and ban these high-capacity clips of more than ten bullets. in addition new york senator chuck schumer has also called for action to make it harder for people who are quote mentally unstable to get guns. john larson from connecticut wants congress to close the gun

show loophole. so has the newtown shooting changed the political climate for gun safety in america. here is robert reich the author of "beyond outrage." he is joining us tonight from berkeley, thank you so much bob for joining me today. >> well good evening, jennifer. i'll tell you this is something that only tangentially touches on my normal topics but goes to the heart of the moral understanding and ability of americans to take action. i think we have reached a tipping point here. i think the normal approach we take as a country, because of an

at attention deficit disorder that we have in the media is when some horrendous thing like that happens, we talk about gun control and change and then we sort of lose our way. the gun lobbies become more activated, and then when it looks like we are serious, they mount all of their possible cloud. i think this time it is going to be different. there's no way that americans are going to forget 20 six year olds and the way they were gunned down. i think we're going to see a change. >> jennifer: i hope you are right. you were in president clinton's

administration. do you think this will be a changing of the political climate to make the passage of at least an assault weapon's ban possible? >> i am because i am hearing politicians who have begun owners and champions of the second amendment. have argued in the past. they are beginning to say we want gun controls. we think it's important to restrict the registration and have a variety of things that they had opposed before. these are not necessarily republicans, but i think the tenor of the debate has changed. i remember back in 1994 it was very hard to get any gun controls then. we had had a few incidents -- the babedy bill had been up for consideration for

many years, and finally politicians did have the courage, but then many politicians feel that they paid for it at the ballot box in those midterm elections, and that scared off a lot of politician politicians. i think those, that fear is no long we are us. >> jennifer: i hope you are right. republicans have been really quiet. cnn producer approached senate minority leader mitch mcconnell about that issue today. take a listen to his response. >> no comment either way? a lot of our viewers are saying

they would like that debate. no comment? >> jennifer: no comment. mcconnell did express sympathy for the families and victims, but said nothing about guns. how hard do you think it is going to be to get these republicans to support at least the assault weapons ban? >> i -- i think it is going to be difficult, jennifer to be completely candid about it. they have said no to every bit of legislation whether it's gun control or for that matter anything else. certainly everyone who has a memory over the last four years, they don't want to have the nra against them. but these images the understanding of the necessity of doing something to reduce the easy access particularly by people with mental illnesses, easy access to guns.

the country overwhelmingly understands that. what the nra and what many people say who are gun supporters, they say look guns don't kill people people kill people. but we understand that we have to have licensing even for -- to drive a car. even to do all sorts of things that are potentially unsafe in the wrong hands. we have got to do something to stop the mayhem that we are experiencing, and i think republicans will come around to that view. >> jennifer: i hope you are right. of course it is not just republicans, but the president too who seems to be heading in this direction, if you listen to his statements that he has been making. after gabby giffords was shop in 2011 there was a number of steps that the administration could take to improve the system of

background checks like pooling information from other agencies to help identify people who are not mentally competent. i as a former person in the executive branch used to love stuff that i could do without having to go to the state legislature, the president presumably has an opportunity here to pick up those regulatory measures can he not? >> yes. some can be done by executive order, which by definition congress can't stop him. there may be efforts to say he has exceeded his authority under executive order. i think the big factor here for the president, the white house, democrats, is the election is over. i don't want to appear too cynical about this jennifer but one reason the president may not

have taken up this issue before the election was the fear that there would be a backlash among gun owners. but now he is reelected and i don't think there is any reason why he can't move ahead particularly with the issues that don't require congressional approval. >> jennifer: back to your area of expertise it has been interesting to see what has happened in the negotiations of the fiscal cliff, we have seen clearly some big movement on the part of john boehner. do you think that this tragedy is going to impact the fiscal cliff negotiations to have these guys get a deal because there are some really big and important issues to deal with. >> i don't see much of a relationship between either one,

except there was a great deal of at attention and focus on the pending fiscal cliff. that caused some degree of movement. john boehner did give some indication on friday that perhaps they would move on the fiscal cliff over the weekend there was a somebody more republican movement with regard to saying perhaps we will raise tax rates on people who have a million dollars or more but without the at attention -- now that the public's at attention is now focused on this massacre in -- in connecticut, there may not be the feeling among republicans that they have got to move quite as quickly as if they will suffer the same kind of public backlash that they were suffering for weeks as they dragged their feet on the fiscal cliff. >> jennifer: so it might lessen the urgency, wratheder than

increase the urgency of acting like rashal adults. >> yeah. i don't ever think there is too much urgency in washington in terms of acting like rational adults, i think it depends on where the focus is at the time. and now it may give them a little bit more cover for dragging their feet. >> jennifer: all right. robert reich thank you. tonight is about action and getting involved. the first thing we want you to do is go to white house weren't gov and make your voice heard. more than 150,000 people have signed on to this website. we want to have you do the same. let your government know this is important to you, if it is. and coming up we're going to give you some more as simple as

this, as a country we don't like talking about mental health. there is a stigma attached to mental health but if we're serious about stopping these massacres, it's vital to understand the holes in the every day presents another exciting issue. from financial regulation, fraud on wall street. things everyday exploding around the world that leave no shortage for exciting conversations. at the end of the show, you know what has happened, why its happened and more importantly, what's going to happen tomorrow.

>> jennifer: we have talked about guns but tonight we're examining a similaric approach to ease how we can deal with these problems to look at how we can deal with these problems and begin to stop these tragic

shootings. here is how president obama laid out how he is going to proceed, at least generally dur vizual last night. >> i would use by power to help an effort aimed at preventing tragedies like this. because what choice do we have? we can't accept events like this a as routine. >> jennifer: i'm glad he mentioned mental health because for too long our focus has been to react to gun laws. but there is more to. obviously not all people with

mental health issues are violent, but the difficulty with these subjects is that people generalize and we have to be really careful with our language, but without the right treatment some people are going to be prone to violent acts. well this country takes care of its own, and it's time that we start taking care of those in need to mental health treatment. there should not be a difference between the way we look at mental health and the way we look at physical health. it's all part of the same body. states cut $1.8 billion from mental health services during the recession. as the governor of michigan we had to cut too. well, the future is not encouraging. if congress doesn't reach a deal

on the fiscal cliff, because funding for mental health programs are going to cut even further. those programs include . . . so it's time that we start taking care of all of our own, and enjoying me now for a round table discussion on the mental health aspect to the solution -- of a solution to gun safety is mychal thompson, a psychiatrist, school consultant and coauthor of "raising cane." he is joining us from new york city. here in studio is warren feral. he is heading up an effort to create a white house council on

men and boys. welcome to you both inside "the war room." >> thank you. >> thank you, jennifer. >> jennifer: you bet. michael, i want to start with you. how have cutbacks to state and local funding affected the ability to identify and treat young people who may be dealing with these very difficult social issues. >> there have been cutbacks my whole career as a child psychologist because legislatures have wanted to save money on state hospitals, and they have thrown it out to the community. it is because of the sigma of mental health, the shame associated with it. we can imagine that adam's mother wanted to get him treatment because she knew how lonely and isolated he was, and

quirky, and maybe terribly disturbed, but where do you go to get help? and how do you get past your own shame of having a boy who may be mentally ill, so many of these school shooters virginia columbine, so many of them have clear diagnosable mental illnesses. and nothing ever came of it. why is that? boys don't want to get mental health treatment. their families are often embarrassed and ashamed, and there are not very good services for them. they wait long long periods of time. >> jennifer: people listening to this the community mental health movement as you mentioned it has been cut, if somebody listening to this show has a son or daughter who

needest mental health treatment where should you go. >> start with the mental health counselor. of course when schools have budget cuts the counselor is the first to go. there are certain minimums that states and schools have to meet but they get really threadbare and the mental health professionals are often overwhelmed, but this is when wr the children spend their day. but you have to say i'm worried, i'm scared. what do you do with a young adult like adam lanza, who dropped out, from what i read in the news what do you do when he gets bigger? you may feel stuck and ashamed. i recommending you read a piece written today by a woman in

idaho who wrote a piece called " i am adam lanza's mother. it's one human being tried to touch the soul of another, find our his or her teams, and if the dreams are scary and dangerous, then that person needs help being safe and keeping other people say, but people think it's our family is ashamed, it is stigmatized. we don't want to go for help. we're too strong for that. >> jennifer: right, which is one of the reasons why addressing the stigma is important.

that this is a part of your physiology. warren the sigma associated with especially boys. you have focused your research on how boys grapple with, you know their own mental issues. how do parents of boys -- how should they be addressing this? >> first, i think the school system needs to have programs that are normal that -- that -- like for example, mentorship programs or bullying programs that are -- that everyone is involved with to prevent bullying or athletic programs that are not just football for the elite, but football and basketball for everyone in the school to be involved in because we know -- >> jennifer: even for the small kids and skinny kids. >> exactly. like with boxing you do it by weight. you group by weight size or

whatever -- but you have the opportunity for every boy to be involved. we need more male teachers that are not just imitation females, but males who encourage risk taking, who do things that males tend to do that allow males to feel normal as males. look at vocational education is another example. boys need a purpose. when they are being channelled to do something like studies for the future these are usually very bright boys. getting them involved in a way of channelling their intelligence is really very helpful. >> we're going to talk about the specifics of boys and we'll tell you, right after the break. our panel will stay with us

throughout the break. in our broken hearts we know before they even put the picture on the tv scene that the face of that evil is going to be some scared-looking troubled boy, just like i was the time before and the time before that. yes, we need answers and yes we need action. but when joint pain and stiffness from psoriatic arthritis hit even the smallest things became difficult. i finally understood what serious joint pain is like. i talked to my rheumatologist and he prescribed enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, and stop joint damage. because enbrel, etanercept suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections tuberculosis

lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores have had hepatitis b have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. [ phil ] get back to the things that matter most. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. [ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biologic medicine prescribed by rheumatologists.

>> jennifer: tonight we're taking a step back and looking at gun violence and specifically mass shootings that claim too many lives too soon. for all of the talk about laws that we need to take a look at

to make a tougher gun law scheme, we also have to take a look at how we raise our children as a country, especially our sons. according to research compiled by the magazine "mother jones," of the last 62 mass shootings in america, 61 of the shooters 61 were men or teenage boys. 61 of the last 62 mass shootings were perpetrated by men or teenage boys. sadly that list includes eight shooters who are under the age of 20 all boys. it is an alarming component, the gender issue is one that we cannot ignore. back with us on our round table discussion on how we as a nation can help our boys face these problems and issues is best-selling author warren farrell. he is leading a group to try to get the obama administration

baum to establish a bipartisan white house council on boys and men, and dr. mychal thompson who is the author of "raising cane." the ar-15 is a rifle commonly see in these shootings. i want you to take a look at this paper ad for the ar-15 rifle, and it says consider your man card reissued. obviously there is a connection between manliness and these weapons. how can we disconnect guns and manliness, or can we? >> let's not do it by attacking

four or five year old boys for how they are playing. many mothers have responded today by saying no no you musn't play with guns as if there were a connection between the way that boys play and adult male violence. little boys want to be strong. they want to be masculine. they want to be heroic save the day, beat evil be luke sky walker, and male myths have always involved a boy being strong and rising to the occasion and facing a villain of some kind. that is not the problem. the problem is there are two many boys who don't have an outlet to express their masculinity. these high school sports are only for the elite, but all of the other boys in the school

want to be strong and be a contributor and be valued. you can do that by going intermural sports and taking care of small children and other ways. the problem is so many boys feel useless, and society doesn't really want them and has no place for them. so they develop a kind of separate identity and that often involves guns and being threatening and angry. the novelist tobias wolf his wonderful book "this boys life," talked about going and loading a rifle and pointing them at the people of the street. that's what he was doing when he was 14 so it's not --

>> jennifer: what i -- i want to bring warren in on this because what it means is that boys substitute by using guns or weapons to make themselves be worthy in some way according to whatever the media or culture defines as a worthy man, right? so this is their substitute. >> exactly. in the old days every boy was prepared for war or some type of work hero but today very small percentages of boys have to go to war, and women also earn so boys almost think how do i become the hero that michael is talking about. and michael is exactly right. and one of the ways he can show his worth is by developing social skills being popular -- >> jennifer: and as a strong feminist, i am somebody who has

resisted categorizing males and females, but i am also the mother of a teenage son, and i know this and see it. let me share with you the reason why this is so compelling to me. according to the cdc at sage nine the suicide rates for boys and girls are the same. but from 15 to 14 the suicide rate for boys is twice that of girls, 15-19 the rate is four times as high and then five times as high. >> first of all we realize these are the years where boys learn how to be men, and they are the years when the biochemistry the hormones all take place, so what we know about boys is exactly what michael said. boys want a sense of purpose.

we have to have a good vocational system so boys that aren't academically strong have a way of achieving. we have to have boys mentoring ore boys. because many of these boys come from homes where there is very minimal father involvement. so we need a culture where we say your biological father is important, because rough housing, not being able to have excuses, these are tank things. >> jennifer: and for people listening to that obviously there are a lot of single moms who are raising sons and the father may not be in the picture, so stick around we're going to get some thoughts from our panel, including dr. sax who is big in this issue as well

and we want you to know what to do if you have a

>> jennifer: joining me back again to talk about what meaningful action needs to take place in the aftermath of newtown is warren farrell, and dr. thompson. if i am a single mother what would you make sure she does to get a man involved in that boy's life. >> big brother programs, any

kind of programs that will put her boy into contact empathetic loving adults and men who want boys to rise up to be good men, to use jeffery canada's title of his book. we -- we need men to help boys become men because they embody -- your mother can love you. she can push you, she can nag you, she can love you to death, but it a man who holds out what it looks like to be a man, and she should get as much involvement of that in her sons life as she can. >> jennifer: so the presence of the father is the preferable way to go. >> yes, and the father not being gate kept. moms contribute this enormous empathy and sensitivity to what happens to a boy, but fathers

often say, i'm sorry sweety you have to eat your peas before you eat your ice cream. >> jennifer: don't stereo type though. some women are rule-bound too. >> that's the point that women can learn and do this and some women are naturally that way, but very frequently the boundary enforcement will often come from a dad. >> jennifer: right. >> and it needs to come from a dad. the boy scouts are very well designed, because with each positive contribution the boy makes there is a new badge. so he has different types of males to work with each on the way up. >> jennifer: so what should schools be doing to make sure -- >> you mentioned having more

male teachers. are there other programs inside of school districts that schools should be look at? >> absolutely. needing to hire males. males out in normal jobs like collecting garbage and so on or doing something in the industry ceo's that they are able to come into the classroom, spend time in the classroom, be residents in there, and have boys have contact with a variety of types of teachers. i think every school needs a program where every boy is a mentor to somebody and is mentored by somebody. >> warren can i jump in? >> jennifer: yes, go ahead. >> i'm a big fan of summer camps, because it takes 17, 18, 19 20-year-old boys and puts them in touch with 10, 11 12

year old boys and looks up to those counselors. and those counselors feel useful and it is beneficial for both. >> jennifer: all right. tell me what you think could happen if there was a council for boys and men. >> yes. all of these images are very important, but all of these -- but they all need to be coordinated, so we don't just have gunshots going out there -- >> jennifer: so to speak. >> so to speak, exactly. so we need to know how important is the father? but the white house is the only place where all of the activities of what is otherwise taken care of by different departments, education, hhs, labor, that can all be

coordinated so there's one comprehensive strategy. >> jennifer: nobody has been talking though -- you want to create this as a white house council, there is a difficulty in singling out boys right? >> the gender wars become a zero-sum game and advocates for girls and women think if we pay at attention to boys that's against girls. and some advocates for boys think we need all the at attention away from girls and women to finally at attention on us. so we need both. >> jennifer: all right. warren farrell, and mychal thompson, thank you both for joining us here in "the war

room" tonight. you all have you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

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